You have to have a strong title. It's got to say something.
For me, naming bands was the forerunner to really writing lyrics, because I work off titles.
I have to confess that a strong contributing factor was that I had just taken what was probably the first acid ever made, given to me by a guy called Johnny Fellows, who had just returned from America.
We all ended up jumping up and down, hugging each other when Ali won; cause Ali is the greatest.
Guys would hang out in groups just to be with the music.
We all had a desire and appreciation for such a wide range of music.
I was half asleep lying there writing this lyric in my head at about 3:30 in the morning. I woke Steve up with this idea and then we went into the living room where there was a little upright piano and finished the song. I wonder where that piano is now?
I have always had a tremendous amount of energy and any band I was ever in from the age of fourteen, I would always be the one who would describe the future and vibe everyone up.
You know, I had the ability like a catalyst to really get everybody hyped up.
Because I would just tell everyone it was going to be great and just put that belief in them.
I think you do better when you are really up for it, cause passion goes up.
You try to be moody when you're young and it had a good ring to it.
So the name of a group has to say something. The name has to be strong.
There I met Gordon Jackson and Dave Meredith who were playing in local bands.
This kind of music was just hitting England, so we were getting this following in clubs in Birmingham just cause we were trying to do something different.
We played at a club called, the Elbow Room. Don Carlos, the nightclub owner, was very hip and a very important person who made a big impact on my life.
I turned everybody on so, psychologically, I guess I was pushing the boundaries creativity.
We loved everything. We wanted to be able to do anything.
Traffic was very, very free. It was great.
But then you have to write a song, so at that point, I picked up the reins and started to write lyrics.
